2019-05-01 The Artists Magazine

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VISITTHEARTIST’SWEBSITEAT

KENKNIGHT.COM.AU.

Now, if he needs to discard an old
painting or an offcut, it gets set aside
for the burn pile.

FORGOING THE PHOTO
When I asked Knight if he considers
photography useful, he laughed.
“Do you remember a band called
The Pet Shop Boys?” he asked. “I was
out painting one day years ago, and
I heard this line in one of their songs:
‘Learn to ignore what the photogra-
pher saw.’ It struck me as both simple
and profound.” Painting from a pho-
tograph is “a bit like shaking hands

with gloves on. There’s a real loss of

sensory information.

“We don’t see the world so much as

we perceive the world,” he continues.

“When we talk to people, we don’t

even see the color of wallpaper behind

them. Our depth of field is so acute

and narrow.” The photograph denies

the artist that selective vision and

sensory experience that makes us

uniquely human. “If you’re standing

on the beach, and there’s the smell

of seaweed, the smell of salt air, the

sound of seagulls overhead, there’s

that sense of freedom that you have

on the beach,” he says. “I think all

that comes through to some extent.”

Most importantly, Knight’s rever-

ence for nature keeps him exploring

the backroads of Australia in search

of the next motif.

Aaron Schuerr (aaronschuerr.com), of

Livingston, Mont., is an award-winning

landscape painter, a plein air enthusiast,

stage actor and frequent contributing

writer to art magazines.